Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-03-11
HENRY WARD BEECHER.
What Leading American Journals Think
81 the Man and His Work.

ei the Mai ana His work.
Well, the century has lost one it's most
powerful orators. Mr.. Beecher wasa unique
man, a magnet to the populace. II many
sided thinker. lie has left 4 vacant place
which no living clergyman can fill.-N. Y.
Herald,
He possessed an emotional dramatic ma
ture, with u teeming imagination, and 4
great sense Of humOr. lie was a wit, u
Sentimentalist, and 4 most entertaining
companion. But his Judgment was faulty
and erring, and he was supremacy selfish
and defective in the moral sense. In the
ieryOr of his desires the distinction Ofright
and wrong disappeared. IL is not neces-
Sary to recall the painful details Of his "a
recr. Magniticently endowed rs he was,
great in his powers, If not i'm his sins, he
has at last completed his journey, and his
rest will never be broken by voice of earth
again.-N. J.. Sun.
1t was Mr.. B~eechcr'S often expressed
wish that he might die suddenly with the
harness on" lie had u strong conviction
% the near approach Of death two years
ago, when he began the delivery OF Il series
of sermons which embraced his later views
OH the great questions which the Christian
religion has ever presented to the skeptic.
By those sermons he wished to he Judged
By pOsterity. His death was not painless
aS he had hoped it would be, but the sum
mons was as sudden rs he had predicted,
aud it found him hard at work.-ChicdgO
Herald.
He had the defects of his qualities, or he
never could have permitted his reputation
to he clOuded by the scandal of 1874, in
which his part, whether innocent or not,
was most pitiful. But those who know
what he was and what he did for the peO-
pie Of the United States in the course OF
his long life will not hesitate to say that
it was much nor TO pay to his memory
the tribute of grateful atlection.-N. !.
Times.
But, Us he cOurted criticism while liy-
ing, and always advocated the bOidest ut
~terances of truth, Mr.. Heecher would not
have expected or desired that after his
death he should be- the object OF fulSOmc on
indiScriminate eulOgy. His life is, in fact,
a most instructive lesson, atfording rs 1t
does, a striking example Of the golden pos
/ Sibilities OF achievement in the paths he
trOd, and of the pitfalls which beSet even
the greatest and brightest among the chill
dren Of men. "-BditiB,Orc Sun.
As a religious teacher he tended toward
negatiOU, and the absence Of strong, con-
trolling belief has been especially nOticea-
BILE in his later work. Those vino dread
negatiOn in belief as the annihilator of all
that is nOblest in action cannot avoid be-
ing repealed by the u~ndercurrent of uneX'
pressed thought beneath the polished elo,
guenee of his pulpit oratory. To these
such teachings as his must always be re.
pugnant, even though spoken with the
tongues of men andangels. ST. Louis Re
publican.
A great orator must be u man of force
and a child of impulse. Henry Ward
| Beecher was first and foremost an orator,
He was a man OF pOAer, with great intel
lectual resources and a heart stirring il
every fibre with human instincts and sym
pathies. No American ever had more mer'
cileSs foes or more devoted and fanatiCaI
! friends, but foes and friends alike must
admit that the worlds common stock o.
genius-never too great even in English
speaking eOuntries-haS been heavily de
pleted by his death. He was 4 man O
heroic stature, and whether for good or for
III has exerted a mighty influence upon his
country and his time.-N. y. Tribune.
Henry Ward Beecher WAS u type that
passing time will make more aud more
glorious a the seeds of his life bear fruits,
OF the purposes and aims of HIS lab0rS cut
inmate in the expanding thOsghts oi men.
He lived a long life, not measured by its
Seyenty-fOur years, hut by its service to the
world, and those who mourn his lnSs now
can say more truly than it is often permit
ted men to say: He yet lives, seeing
that his works wereS truth. The glad
day diving leaves its image On the mind Is
a beautiful memory aud a radiant promise,
80 the departing life of a truly great man
casts IL glory upon the souls of living men
to serve as their inspiration Chicago Inter
Ocean.
The last dozen years of his life added
nothing 10 its achievements, and gave a
/ tinye of bitterness aud sadness and decay
10 "A mighty career. His OratOry did not
sway men rs of old; his creed became
more doubtful; his patriotism lost its fiery
glow, and he wandered OFF after strange
gods. His church, in it's laxity, cut loose
from ancient associations, and he, an his
perversity, parted from the great political
forces which he had so heroically led in
his grand hattie for human liberty. 1t
was a melancholy recreancy to the real
| glory of his life, and in reviewing the
story of his career every true friend will
wish these later chapters blOtted out and
cherish only the noble work which created
and will perpetuate his fame.-PhIdddphfd
Press.
That a man so bold, aggressive and
thoroughly emotional should make mis-
takes does not need to be said. But few
men have ever acknowledged their mis-
takes more gracefully, or set TO work with
more hearty earnestneSS to repair the con-
seauenees.-1Hmtd Constellation.
The lesson of Mr.. Beecher's life thai
viii, perhaps, be of the most value TO the
young men Of the day, Is that Of his en-
Il - -...,ss,a nl raraararsnr ipHuafry THE